Dallas Cowboys open season with a win

Dallas Cowboys running back DeMarco Murray (29) tries to keep away New York Giants middle linebacker Mark Herzlich (58) during the second half of an NFL football game, Sunday in Arlington.
Jose Yau of the Waco Tribune Herald

Also, on the offensive side of the ball for the Cowboys, Romo connected with wide receivers Miles Austin and tight end Jason Witten. However, he had trouble getting the ball to wide receiver Dez Bryant due to the fact that the Giants had a safety on Bryant the entire game.

“More than anything, the Giants were really not going to allow Dez to beat them this game,” Romo said. “We had to go to certain other plays.”

Despite the many turnovers the Cowboys’ defense produced, they allowed the Giants 478 total yards in offense.

The game was close in the fourth quarter with the Giants coming back within six points of the Cowboys, trailing them 24-30 with 8:47 left in the game. As the Giants marched down the field in scoring range, once again the Cowboys’ defense stepped up and intercepted a pass by Manning.

Brandon Carr of the Cowboys’ defense intercepted the ball on third down and stopped the Giants from taking the lead. Instead, Carr returned the interception for a touchdown and gave the Cowboys a 36 to 24 lead.

The Giants came back with a touchdown with 11 seconds on the game but it was too late as the Cowboys sealed the win, 36-31.

Giants Head Coach Tom Coughlin said he was disgusted with all the turnovers his offense had.

“I’m totally, totally disappointed and embarrassed by that kind of football,” Coughlin said. “That’s sloppy, sloppy football. We have control over ourselves. We have to recognize situations that are going to lead to those kinds of things and then you can’t turn the ball over. You can’t win turning the football over. That’s the bottom line. There are a lot of other things that we can fix, and we’re going to fix that too.”

Overall, Manning was 27 out of 42 in his passing attempts with a total of 450 yards. He had four touchdowns along with three interceptions. The Giants’ rushing game was silent with only 50 yards.

For the Cowboys, Romo was 49 of 36 passing with a total of 263 yards. He had two touchdowns and one interception. Romo also utilized his entire offensive receiving core to help get the ball down the field. Witten scored two touchdowns as well for the Cowboys.

Cowboys’ owner Jerry Jones was all smiles after the game.

“I’m going to do whatever it takes to beat these Giants,” Jones said. “I changed the name of the stadium. And so we will do whatever comes up next to get that done. I’m also proud to have this staff coaching this team.”

Romo thanked the crowd of over 85,000 in helping the team win.

“That was as good as I’ve seen our home stadium,” Romo said. “The crowd was exceptional. They were outstanding from the moment we started until the end of the football game. If they continue to do that, this is going to be a tough place to play. I was just really excited about the way they brought the energy and the noise level that was throughout the football game. That was awesome to see. So give them credit.”

Garrett summed up what this year’s Cowboys team is all about.

“A smart, tough, relentless group of guys who understand how to play winning football and play 60 minutes, who always have each other’s backs, who do the right things, play in, play out to help us win games,” he said.